The Darkness Returns
by ShadowPhoenix10
Summary: Spyro and Cynder's son ends up mysteriously corrupted. What evil lurks now? Could it just be the world trying to rebalance itself? Nobody knows. This Story is a sequel to my previous book "The Legend of Spyro: The Dark General". DEAD, although I will revisit it soon.
1. Chapter 1 The Darkness Returns

**Hey Guys! Sorry I ended my last book like that, but I felt it was necessary. For anyone who is new, Please go read my first book, "The Legend of Spyro: The Dark General", as this is the sequel to that book and you would be quite confused if you didn't read it. And a great thanks to all my returning readers! It means a lot! Anyway, Here is the first chapter of "The Legend of Spyro: The Darkness Returns" ENJOY!**

* * *

"Alright!" Spyro said as they reached the edge of the forest in the Valley of Avalar.

Spyro was an adult purple dragon, with bright yellow horns, and wings of the same color. He had a yellow underbelly to match his wings, and had small amber spikes that ran all the way down is body. He had grown a lot since the Battle of the Dragon Temple, and Malefor's death. He was over four times as large, and had only become more powerful. His legs grew more muscular, and his body wider. His jaw was finely chiseled, and he had a warm smile spread across his muzzle.

His vibrant amethyst eyes turned to his son. "Any guesses as to why we are here?"

"Hmm.. Are we going to chop some wood?" Coal asked inquisitively.

Coal was a young dragon, a little larger than Spyro when he had battled against Gaul during the Eternal Night. He had scales that were as black as the night sky, and had dark gray horns that were shaped much like that of his father's, but were smaller, and had more of them. His wings were black with grey membranes, and he had a grey underbelly, making him look much like a shadow. His body was quite slender for a male, but was muscular at the same time. No other dragon or dragoness his age rivalled his skill when it came to combat, and elements weren't a problem for him either. Being the son of two purple dragons gave him unmatched power. He could wield all the same elements his parents could, and excelled at each and every one of them. His muzzle was quite short, but wore a smile most of the time. The very same smile he was donning right now.

"Nope." Spyro replied.

"Then what is it?" Coal asked as his smile turned quizzical.

"I'm gonna teach you how to hunt." Spyro explained happily. "Well really more like let you hunt."

"Cool!" Coal exclaimed as his regular smile returned. "Any rules?"

"What? Rules? Why would there be rules?" Spyro questioned his son playfully, an obvious smirk spread across his muzzle.

"Because there are always rules with you Dad." Coal said with a small laugh.

Spyro rolled his eyes, then conceded. "Alright. No elements."

"What? I have eight elements, and I can't use any of them?" Coal asked in shock.

"Nope. No elements." Spyro answered strongly.

"Why not?" Coal questioned even further.

"Because you have to learn that not everything will come easily, and hunting is one of those things." Spyro replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh ok." Coal finally backed down. "I like a challenge anyway." He stated before running into the forest to look for his first prey.

* * *

After searching for a couple minutes, Coal found a small deer in a clearing. He slowly crept up, remaining very low to the ground. Ever so slowly he inched towards the deer, silently stalking his prey. When the deer was about to come into pouncing range, Coal heard a cracking sound. He looked back to see that his back leg had snapped a stick in two. The deer leapt away, and Coal chased after it. The deer was young, only about as large as Coal himself, making the pursuit easier for the quick, young dragon. After a couple minutes of chasing, Coal finally caught his prey, killed it, and sat down on his haunches, satisfied with his catch. After looking over his catch, Coal looked up. Right in front of him was a patch of gems shining as a small ray of light seeped through the dense trees above. This particular patch of gems weren't the kind that Coal was used to though. They weren't red gems, or even green gems. They were a deep, dark purple.

Curious as to what they might do, Coal broke them. Instantly, many dark thoughts rushed into his mind. Thoughts telling him to do things that he never had even imagined before. He felt his morals being twisted into that of a monster, and he couldn't do anything about it. He tried to shake the evil thoughts from his head, but they just came back stronger. After battling with his own thoughts for what felt like days, but was really only a couple minutes, he found himself on his way to meet his father, but not by any means to say hi.

* * *

"There you are Coal!" Spyro said as Coal came into view. "Didn't catch anything?"

Coal just kept walking. Spyro then noticed that his son's demeanor had changed. There wasn't the usual happy spring in his step, or the typical smile on his face. Instead, there was an dark sneer on Coal's unusually evil looking face, and his walk was menacing to say the least.

"Coal are you alright?" Spyro asked as Coal continued his approach.

" _Great!"_ Coal said with an evil and corrupted voice. _"I feel better than ever!"_

"You've been… _CORRUPTED?!"_ Spyro yelled in surprise.

What happened next surprised Spyro even more; Coal jumped at him, intent on killing.

Spyro dodged at the last second, just barely breaking from his surprised trance in time. Spyro then looked at Coal's eyes, expecting to see white, but they were their usual brown. "Wait. Your eyes are normal. That means it isn't convexity." Spyro said before dodging another one of his son's attacks. "Coal! What's wrong?!"

" _YOU!"_ Coal yelled angrily. _"MY WHOLE LIFE YOU'VE TOLD ME WHAT TO DO!"_

Spyro was forced to dodge again. "COAL! THAT'S ENOUGH!" He yelled.

" _YOU NEVER GAVE ME A CHOICE!"_ Coal screamed at the top of his lungs. _"THAT ENDS NOW!"_

"Then you leave me no choice." Spyro said sadly.

Coal leapt at Spyro again, but instead of dodging again, Spyro shot lightning at him.

Coal hit the ground unconscious. Spyro paused, and took a look around at what had been their brief battle field. The grass was ripped up here and there, but nothing to serious. Spyro walked over to his son, picked him up, and strode back home.

* * *

It was just after dark while a certain purple dragoness was waiting for her mate, and son.

Cynder, a very svelte, and sleek purple dragoness, with six white horns on her head, and a beautiful scarlett color for her underbelly and wing membranes, was sitting in the middle of her house as the quiet pitter patter of rain began to hit the roof. The quiet noise was quite relaxing, and Cynder found herself battling for consciousness. She was fighting a losing battle, and was about to submit herself to it, when the door burst open, completely releasing Cynder from sleep's grasp. There was a flash of lightning that illuminated the room around her for a brief moment. In the doorway, she saw the silhouette of an adult, male dragon, carrying another dragon that looked to be around ten years old on his back.

"Cynder!" Came a voice from the silhouette. "Light a candle or something, and then I need your help."

"Why?" Cynder asked her mate in surprise.

"Hurry!" Was all Spyro said in reply. Cynder could sense the worry in his voice, so she did what he asked.

When she returned to Spyro's side, Cynder found him laying their son down on his bed. He then moved to grab a rope that was on the other side of the room. Their house only had two rooms, with a large hole in the wall to act as a doorway, allowing the dragons to move from one room to the other. One room had two beds, one large enough for the adult purple dragons to sleep on together, and a smaller one for their son. The other room had a small desk that had two drawers in it. One for inks and quills, and the other for parchments.

"What is the rope for?" Cynder asked her mate as he approached. The rain outside becoming stronger by the second.

"We need to bind him." Spyro replied. There was a large clap of thunder and another flash of lightning.

"What?! Bind him?!" Cynder questioned in disbelief.

"Yes Cynder!" Spyro answered as he started tying Coal's limbs together. "We need to bind him!"

"If you say so." Was all Cynder was able to say, and then she moved to help her mate.

'BANG' Came another thunderclap as the purple dragons finished tethering their son's limbs.

Coal woke up with a start as a result of that clap of thunder.

"What? Where am I?" He asked nobody, not realizing that his parents were right in front of him.

"At home." Spyro replied, surprising the young dragon. "Are you alright Coal?"

"When did we get home? Last I knew I had caught a deer." Coal said. "And then all of a sudden, evil thoughts came to my mind… I don't know what happened next."

"It's alright Coal." Cynder said. "You are safe now."

'BANG' Another clap of thunder sounded. The rain had strengthened again, creating a wet, and windy onslaught for the small house.

"I know I am safe, but are you?" Coal questioned with concern in his voice.

"What?" Cynder instantly returned. "Why wouldn't we be safe?"

"I can't remember much, but I do remember those thoughts telling me to kill." Coal replied before trying to stand up. "Why am I tied up?"

"Because of what happened that you can't remember." Spyro replied.

"What happened?" Coal asked.

"You attacked me." Was Spyro's reply. "You wanted to kill me."

"What?!" Cynder exclaimed. "He attacked you?!"

"I did?!" Coal couldn't believe it either. "Why would I- Uh oh."

"What?" Cynder asked her son.

"You guys need to leave." Coal said before wincing.

"Why?" Cynder asked again with growing concern.

"Just… argh… GO!" Coal yelled in pain.

"Cynder! We have to go!" Spyro yelled, trying to get through to his mate.

Cynder just stood there, unable to process what was happening. Fear was prominent in her eyes.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled once more.

"Uhh.. Right." Cynder said nervously as she turned to run from the house.

Spyro quickly followed, moving faster with each stride.

After a few seconds of running, the purple dragons turned and looked to their house just in time to see a large explosion, and then a certain young, black dragon take off, and fly away.

"Our home." Cynder said sadly as she looked at the charred pieces of rubble that used to be their house.

Spyro could only stare in disbelief. He built that house alongside his mate, and now it was only a pile of ash and rubble.

* * *

 **Chapter one is complete! Give me your thoughts! Did I add enough detail? Were there any places where I could've been more descriptive? Please don't hesitate to let me know if I made any mistakes! Any and all reviews are welcome! Thanks for reading!**

 ** **Shadow out.****


	2. Chapter 2 New Friends

**Here we go! Chapter 2! Sorry about not getting it up sooner, but I ran in a 5k on Saturday. I introduce 2 new OCs in this chapter. Hopefully you like them! ENJOY!**

* * *

Spyro and Cynder slowly made their way to their used-to-be home. There was rubble all over. They began rummaging through the piles of rock, hoping to find something… anything… unscathed. After searching for a couple minutes, Cynder found something that quickly brought tears to her eyes.

"Oh, Spyro..." She said glumly.

Spyro approached from behind her, and ended up on her left side.

Cynder held out her paw, showing him what she found underneath a pile of charred rocks.

In her paw was an emerald colored gem, with a ring on it to connect it to a chain. The chain was missing however, and the loop where the chain used to be was broken. The gem itself was blackened on one side, and scratched on the other. This battered up gem was the remains of the necklace that Spyro used to propose to his love, Cynder.

* * *

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Spyro was walking away from the jeweler's shop in Warfang, a month and a half after he had turned eighteen. In his paw was a beautiful emerald necklace, with a golden chain, and a large "C" carefully etched into the back. He had big plans for this particular necklace, which he had crafted with his own hands, over the course of three months. He had asked Cynder to wait under the blossom tree at the temple gardens, and was heading there now. "Relax…" Spyro told himself as he spread his wings to take off towards the temple. He spent the whole ten minutes of swift flying trying, and failing, to calm his nerves._

 _When the temple finally came into view, a nervous smile snuck onto Spyro's lips._

" _Don't worry…" Spyro told himself as a last attempt to calm his racing thoughts. These particular thoughts were about what would happen if Cynder refused his offer. "She will love this… I hope."_

 _He landed at the entrance to the gardens. He slowly raised his eyes, and saw Cynder about 10 yards in front of him, watching the blossom tree slowly drop its beautiful flowers. She had her back to him, and turned to look at him as he took his first step towards her._

" _Absolutely beautiful isn't it?" Cynder asked her lover._

" _I can only think of one thing that is more beautiful." Spyro replied._

" _Oh really?" Cynder asked deviously. "And what might that be?"_

" _You Cynder." Spyro replied._

 _Cynder responded with a gentle kiss on Spyro's cheek. "I love you, Spyro."_

" _Hey, can I ask you a question?" Spyro asked._

 _Cynder was confused. "Sure…" She said after a few seconds._

 _Spyro took a deep breath, then began nervously._

" _I thought that I'd seen beauty,  
I thought I'd witnessed grace,  
I thought that I'd known love,  
'Til I gazed upon your face._

I thought I'd felt my heart beat,  
I thought my knees were weak,  
I thought I'd heard a songbird,  
Until I heard you speak.

I thought the rose was fragrant,  
I thought the sky was blue,  
I thought nature wonderful,  
'Til I first laid eyes on you.

I thought the sun was shining,  
I thought I'd seen it all,  
I thought that I was standing,  
Until you made me fall.

I thought my eyes were open,  
Yet now I'm not so sure,  
I think that I may be in love,  
Like I've never loved before.

I thought my life was perfect,  
I thought that I was fine,  
But then I met you and,  
I want you to be mine.

I'll hold on to these feelings,  
And keep them safe within,  
Until the time they're needed,  
And true love can begin.

Cynder my darling… Will you marry me?"

 _As Spyro finished, he held his paw out, showing the necklace to his beloved._

 _Cynder, who was in tears, was absolutely blown away._

" _Yes!" She said at last. "Yes, Spyro! Of course I will marry you!"_

 _Cynder leapt onto Spyro, causing them to roll backwards a few yards. Before they even stopped, Cynder had pushed herself into a passionate kiss. Spyro was almost surprised by her sudden act of love, but then realized that he should have expected it, and kissed her back._

" _I love you Spyro!" Cynder said after breaking the kiss._

" _Cynder, my darling, I love you too!" Spyro replied, and then kissed his betrothed again._

 _END FLASHBACK_

* * *

"Oh Cynder…" Spyro said sadly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault Spyro." Cynder remarked even more sadly, and then sighed. "We need to find Coal."

They took off in the direction their son flew. Spyro could tell just by the way Cynder flew that she was very sad. Her head was low, her tail drooped behind her. But the thing that gave her feelings away the most was her eyes. There were tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and they looked as faded as if she wasn't even alive.

"Cynder, my darling. Please cheer up. It hurts me to see you like this." Spyro told her.

"I'm sorry Spyro…" Cynder said. "I just… I just can't believe Coal would do such a thing. He never acted like this before…"

"I know Cynder…" Spyro replied. "But he seemed corrupted when he attacked me."

"What?!" Cynder yelled "Corrupted?! How would that happen?!"

"I don't know Cynder." Spyro replied. "The last time I saw him before he attacked me, was when he went to hunt… I wonder if he found something other than food.. Maybe we would find what he found if we just looked around."

"Maybe… but let's find him before we do anything else." Cynder said as they continued their flight.

* * *

They flew until nightfall, hoping to find their son. Just as it was becoming too dark to see, they saw a small house similar to their own… Or what used to be theirs.

They landed at the front door, and Spyro softly rapped on it with his paw.

The door slowly opened, and behind it was a dark purple dragoness, with white flecks that sparkled brightly on her wings and body. These flecks looked particularly like the constellations in the sky, and mesmerized the two dragons outside the door.

"Hello there!" The dragoness who answered the door said.

Spyro and Cynder shook themselves out of their trance.

"Hi!" Cynder said after another second or two.

"May I help you?" The dragoness behind the door asked.

"Uhh… yeah actually." Spyro said. "We were wondering if you had a place for us to sleep?"

"May I ask your name?" The dragoness inquired.

"Of course!" Cynder answered. "My name is Cynder, and that there is my mate, Spyro." She said as she pointed to her lover.

The one who answered the door had her eyes wide in shock.

"Uhhh… Are you alright?" Spyro asked.

The dragoness shook out of her trance. "Oh uhh.. Yeah uhh… I'm alright. Come on in!" She said, stepping to the side to allow her guests to enter. "Hey Exedra!"

"Yes Galaxia?" Came a male voice from the other room.

"We have guests." Galaxia announced.

"I will be right out." Exedra replied. "Hello there!" Exedra said as he arrived. "My name is Exedra."

Spyro looked up at the tall dragon as he came into view. Exedra was a scary looking dragon at best. His skales were jet black, and had a bone white underbelly. His tail was scythe shaped, and he wore the face of a dragon skull as a mask, effectively hiding his eyes.

"Oh Exedra. Take that mask off." Galaxia commanded.

"Yes, my dear Galaxia." Exedra said before taking the skull off of his face.

The face behind the mask wasn't much better than what came before it. Exedra's face was scarred, and battered and pieces of his horns were nonexistent. Spyro looked at Exedra's blood red eyes, and to his and Cynder's relief, his eyes only showed signs of happiness.

"Hello Exedra!" Spyro said. "My name is Spyro."

Exedra's scarred face fell into the same, blank, trance-like stare Galaxia's did at the door.

"Spyro? Are you sure?" Exedra asked.

"Quite." Spyro replied.

"And who's this lovely dragoness with you?" Exedra questioned.

"I'm Cynder," She replied with a slight blush. "Spyro's mate."

"Well good for you then!" Exedra exclaimed. "I can tell you picked a good one, Spyro!" He said with a hearty laugh.

Cynder's blush darkened, and Spyro laughed nervously.

"EXEDRA!" Galaxia yelled. "HE DOESN'T KNOW YET!"

"Know what?" Spyro asked, surprised in the direction this conversation turned.

"In due time." Galaxia replied calmly.

Just then there was a grunt of pain from the other room. Galaxia and Exedra moved to the other room, and Spyro and his mate followed.

When they arrived, they were greeted by the sight of Coal laying on a large sack filled with straw, scratched and bruised all over.

"COAL!" Cynder yelled as she ran to her unconscious son.

This surprised Galaxia and Exedra, but they were relieved anyway.

"I'm assuming you know him?" Galaxia said with a small laugh.

"Yes." Spyro replied as Cynder looked over Coals injuries. "He's our son."

"What happened?" Cynder asked without removing her eyes from Coal.

"He kind of attacked us.." Exedra replied.

"He didn't ruin anything of yours did he?" Spyro asked worriedly.

"No, no, Spyro." Galaxia replied. "He didn't."

"But.. I don't understand something." Spyro said.

"What might that be?" Galaxia inquired.

"Why is he in your care?" Spyro asked. "If he attacked you, why would you nurse him back to health?"

"Because I sensed that he wasn't himself." Exedra said. "When he attacked, we easily held him off, but I sensed that something was wrong in his mind. You wouldn't have any idea what that might be?"

"No Exedra, we don't." Cynder replied finally breaking her gaze away from Coal. "But how could you sense that?"

"I am a master of the shadow element." Exedra announced boastingly. "Being so, I can sense when something is wrong with someone else's mind."

"Makes sense." Spyro remarked. "What element are you Galaxia?"

"I am a rare species of dragon, known as a galaxy dragon." Galaxia replied. "Galaxy dragons are actually a rare form of a purple dragon, so I can use all elements. Although galaxy dragons can never get as powerful as regular purple dragons, such as yourselves."

"Speaking of which, I thought only one purple dragon was born every thousand years." Exedra voiced his thoughts. "How are you two the same age?"

"It's a really long story." Was Cynder's reply.

"Well we have time, if you don't mind telling us that is." Galaxia said kindly.

* * *

The four dragons talked well into the night, talking about all of their pasts. Cynder had trouble when it came to her turn, so Spyro helped her. Once they came to Exedra's and Galaxia's past, they were shocked to find out that they fought in the war when the attack on the temple happened almost 30 years earlier.

"You were part of the war during the year of the dragon?!" Spyro asked as his voice grew more and more desperate to know. "What happened?!"

"Well… We don't know exactly." Galaxia admitted. "We do know the temple was attacked, and that most of the eggs were unfortunately smashed.. Although we were told that the purple egg was saved, and there was one other egg, the one that Malefor took."

"Then why wouldn't you know what happened?" Cynder asked.

"Because, a week before the attack on the dragon temple, we, and some others, were captured, and forced to go through a portal to another realm." Exedra explained. "We weren't able to protect ourselves... So we weren't able to protect you."

"Then… How do you know all of this about the attack?" Spyro questioned.

"Because we managed to keep in touch with Ignitus for a week after the attack." Galaxia said. "His Pool of Visions was how." She said after seeing the inquisitive looks on Spyro's and Cynder's faces.

"Was there anything else he told you?" Cynder asked just as Spyro opened his mouth to ask the same question.

Exedra's face cracked into a wide grin. "Yes in fact. He told us that our son had survived."

* * *

 **HA! I left you with a little bit of a cliff hanger there! *ahem...* Sorry. Had to get that out of my system... Thanks to Dusk Mane Necrozma for letting me borrow his OCs. I think they fit the role I will be using them for really nicely! I greatly appreciate it! While you are at it, why don't you go check Dusk Mane Necrozma's books out! Anyway. Thanks for reading, and reviewing!**

 ** **Shadow out.****


	3. Chapter 3 Darkness Strikes

**Here's chapter 3! ENJOY! (By the way, I'm uploading this off of my phone, so the line that goes across the screen will be temporarily replaced by a few dashes.)**

 **EDIT: It has now been fixed.**

* * *

"Wait… Who is yo-" Spyro's was shocked when he realized who they were talking about. "Me?!"

Exedra nodded. "Yes Spyro, we are your parents."

Cynder only sat in the corner listening, she was happy that Spyro found his family, but was sad that she could never find hers.

Cynder soon got lost in her thoughts about her parents. She thought about what they may look like, and how they might react to her being the former 'Terror of the Skies'. With every thought that passed, a question arose. It was always the same question, regardless of what she thought about her parents.

'Why can't I find them?' Cynder asked herself over and over in her thoughts.

"-right Cynder?" Spyro asked, breaking Cynder from her thoughts.

"Uhh.. What?" Cynder spoke as she tried to remember what Spyro was talking about.

"We were talking about what happened since Malefor's death," Spyro replied. "and actually have been for a half hour."

'Wow.. I was out for a long time.' Cynder thought, then heard Coal stirring.

Her eyes shot over to him, to see him stand up.

"Coal?" Cynder asked. "Are you alright?"

"Mom?" Coal was totally bewildered. "Wh-where am I?"

"It's ok Coal." Cynder said as she brought him into a tight hug. "You're safe now."

Coal just sat in his mother's loving embrace, wondering what was happening to him.

"What's wrong with me?" Coal asked helplessly, as a tear formed in the corner of his eye.

Spyro and Cynder had no idea how to answer that question, but Exedra did.

"Your inner darkness is taking over, young dragon." The tall dragon announced.

"What?!" The young dragon was very disheartened by that sentence. "How do I stop it?"

"I don't know." Exedra replied. He was obviously disappointed in himself for not having the answer.

Coal just broke down. He couldn't hold his tears any longer.

"Why me?" He said in between sobs. "I'm sorry Mom. I can't do it. I can't fight it off."

"Come here Coal." Cynder beckoned, pulling her son into another tight hug. "It's not your fault, my son. We should have trained you to defend yourself from this."

"I'm leaving…" Coal announced sadly. "I would be a danger to you, and all of Warfang."

"Coal please." Cynder said hoping to sway her son. "We can find a way around this."

"I'm sorry mom." Coal replied. "I just don't know what else to do."

He broke the hug, saying: "I love you."

"I love you too Coal." Cynder said with a light kiss to his forehead. "I promise we will find you one day."

Cynder knew that, unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to stop her son.

"I love you Dad." Coal voiced with a hug.

"I love you too." Spyro announced with a smile, albeit a sad one. "I promise you we will figure out how to get you through this."

With that the hug was broken, and Coal turned sadly to leave. "I sure hope you will." He said and then took off.

Cynder couldn't contain herself any longer, and burst into tears.

Spyro walked up to her, draped a wing over her and led her away saying: "We are going to see if we can find what might have caused this… We'll see you later Exedra, Galaxia."

The two old dragons nodded, as they watched their son and daughter-in-law walk away.

* * *

After walking for a minute or two, the purple dragons broke into a swift flight towards the forest in the Valley of Avalar.

"This is where I last saw him." Spyro announced as they reached the edge of the forest.

"Let's get looking then." Cynder said quickly.

They quickly began searching , and after a couple minutes, Cynder found some footprints that were clearly from a young dragon, and yelled to her mate. "Spyro! I think I found some of Coal's tracks!"

Spyro turned to his mate, and followed her.

Cynder quickly led them to a clearing, and the footprints changed. Instead of the prints of a walking dragon, they were the prints of a dragon that was crouching. "He must have found something." Cynder said and then followed the tracks further. Soon she came upon a stick that looked as if it had been stepped on, and then the tracks widened greatly.

Spyro watched as his mate leapt forward at a breakneck speed, immediately tearing after her, making sure he kept his eyes on the purple dragoness in front of him. "Cynder! Slow down!" He called, but to no avail. He managed to keep her pace, until she suddenly stopped. Spyro slammed into her tail end, sending them flipping a couple of meters forward.

"Uhh.. Sorry my darling." Spyro said with a nervous smile as he rolled off from on top of her.

Cynder didn't reply. She only stood up, and walked back to her previous position.

Spyro stood up, and noticed a deer carcass next to what appeared to be a pile of crystals.

"Why are they purple?" Spyro asked.

Cynder shrugged in response, and grabbed a few. "Maybe Ignitus knows something about them."

"Let's go find out." Spyro replied.

" _Hold on."_ Came Coal's corrupted voice. _"I have a score to settle with you."_

An evil laugh was heard, although it's owner could not be seen.

"Cut this out Coal!" Cynder yelled. "You know you can't beat us!"

" _But I can slow you down!"_ Coal yelled, then leapt out of the shadows, right at Cynder.

Cynder easily dodged, and then shot wind at her corrupted son.

Coal dodged, and Spyro dropped into the shadows, as his son did the same. Their shadows battled for the upper hand while Cynder waited for an opening. After almost a minute of the two shadows' battling, Cynder jumped at the smaller one, used her shadow element, and tackled her son. The force of the tackle threw both of them out of the shadows. Coal came out with scratches all over his body, and neither Spyro nor Cynder were damaged in any way.

"You can't beat us Coal!" Cynder yelled.

" _No matter."_ Coal replied. _"You will be joining me soon enough."_

After finishing his sentence, Coal spread his wings and flew away.

Spyro sighed. "Let's go."

* * *

Ignitus was in his quarters, pondering who he should choose to be the next Guardians. He had possible candidates for each position, and every single one were training, but no one had really stuck out to him.

"Maybe Flame?" He said to himself. "He seems like he might be good enough, but he has yet to show enough potential."

Ignitus heard a soft knock on his door. "Enter." He called.

Spyro and Cynder came out from behind the door, and instantly pulled Ignitus into a hug.

"How are my son and daughter this evening?" Ignitus asked.

"Not the best." Cynder replied with a sigh. "Something is happening with Coal."

"What's going on?" Ignitus asked, eager to help his adopted son and his son's mate.

"It's kind of hard to explain," Spyro began. "but he came home corrupted somehow."

"Corrupted?! How on earth would he be corrupted?!" Ignitus asked, afraid that there was another evil lurking about.

"That's what we came here about." Cynder announced. "We were wondering if you knew anything about these." She said as she held her paw out.

"Purple crystals? Since when are there purple crystals?" Ignitus asked.

Spyro sighed. "We are looking for the answer to the same question."

"Maybe if you broke it we could learn something about it Spyro." Ignitus said after a moment of thought.

Spyro was apprehensive about it. "Are you sure that this is the only way?" He asked after pondering it for a while.

"I don't see any other way." Ignitus said. "Besides, you'd be able to stop whatever it is from happening."

"I guess it's worth a shot." Spyro replied before grabbing one of the crystals. Before he was able to break it though, he noticed Cynder was going to break one as well.

"Wait Cyn." Spyro said just before she broke it. "I don't want you to do this. What if something goes wrong?"

"Spyro." Cynder began. "You're mad if you really think I'm gonna let you do this by yourself. Coal's my son too, and I want to help him in any way I can."

"Is there any way I can stop you from doing this?" Spyro asked.

Cynder replied with a firm 'no'.

"Alright then." Spyro said. "Here goes nothing." Spyro and Cynder broke the crystals, and their eyes instantly shot open in shock. Dark and evil images were pouring into their mind, trying to snuff out any light it found. Cynder fell to the ground as the evil thoughts took her over. Somehow though, Spyro slowly but surely pushed the evil pictures to the back of his mind. When he came back to reality, he found Cynder on the ground.

"No! Cynder! Don't give in to it!" He yelled. "Cynder! WAKE UP!"

Cynder's eyes shot open. She had almost lost herself to the evil, but Spyro had brought her back.

She leapt into Spyro's arms. "That was awful." She said with tears in her eyes. "The things I pictured doing. The things I _wanted_ to do. It was absolutely disgusting."

"We have to leave…" Spyro announced with Cynder still in his embrace. "We were only able to hold that back because we have been corrupted before. But it will come back, I'm sure of it."

"How can you be certain it'll come back?" Ignitus asked.

"Because I can still feel it's presence in in the back of my mind." Spyro replied. "I can feel it growing in power."

"Please Spyro, just stay he-"

"NO IGNITUS." Spyro yelled, then realized he had snapped at him and looked to the ground in shame. "I-I'm sorry. I can't hold it forever." Spyro turned, and Ignitus gave him a quick hug.

Spyro spoke again after the hug was broken. "Promise me that if we come back corrupted, that you will do whatever is necessary."

"But Spyro-"

"NO! NO BUTS!" Spyro screamed before sighing. "We won't be able to stop ourselves once we go too far."

"But… How can I kill my son?" Ignitus asked.

"I don't know Ignitus…" Cynder said. "But we really need to leave. I can feel it coming back."

Ignitus pulled them into another hug, and then let them leave, calling out to them as they did so. "Be safe!"

As soon as they were gone, he flipped a table in pure anger. "WHY DID I EVER ASK THEM TO BREAK THOSE?!" He yelled to himself. "IT'LL BE A REPEAT OF LAST TIME!" Tears came to his eyes. "Except it'll be my fault."

"What'll be your fault Ignitus?" Came the voice of Flame.

"Oh uhh.. Nothing Flame." Ignitus replied with a shake of the head.

"Hmm. Ok." Flame said, doubting the truth of the previous statement. "Well. I'll be out at the training grounds."

"Alright Flame." Ignitus replied.

* * *

Spyro and Cynder leapt into the sky as soon as they left the Guardians' quarters.

"Should we split up?" Cynder asked. "We might attack each other."

"Well let's find Coal." Spyro replied. "If he attacks us, then we have our answer."

They continued their flight for another couple minutes, and then Cynder spoke up again.

"It kind of sucks to know that you will lose your mind." She said.

"Yeah." Spyro replied. "I know what you mean."

"Hey! There's Coal!" Cynder exclaimed as she pointed to a black figure flying in the distance.

Cynder almost called to him, but she was stopped by Spyro. "Let's just follow him." He said in a hushed voice.

Cynder nodded, and then dove towards the tree line. Spyro followed, and they pulled up just before hitting them.

They followed their corrupted son for a half hour or so, until he suddenly dove to the ground. The two purple dragons followed him down, and walked into a cave that was right in front of them.

"Coal?" Cynder called. "You there?"

" _Oh yes, I'm here."_ Came Coal's corrupted voice from behind them. _"Just not where you think I am."_

Coal was at the entrance to the cave, blocking their escape.

"So!" His voice returned to normal as he walked into the cave. "Hungry?"

"What?" Spyro was disbelieving. "Are you back?"

"No." Coal replied. "I just accepted who I am now. That makes it possible for my regular voice to return."

"Oh." Spyro said. "So this is where you've been?"

"Yep." Coal answered as he placed a large deer over a freshly lit fire.

"And you've embraced the darkness?" Cynder asked.

"Mm-hmm." Coal replied. "I didn't have much of a choice. I would've been tortured by my own mind."

"Oh."

"You should join me you know." Coal said. "It would be a lot easier on you."

"We can't do that Coal." Spyro replied. "It would go against everything we have fought for."

"I see. Well it'll happen sooner or later." Coal informed them. "Sorry about the house by the way. I didn't mean to do that." He said without removing his attention from the deer.

"Uhh, Coal?" Cynder asked.

"Yes mom?"

"If you embraced the darkness, then why are you being so nice to us?" Cynder questioned further.

"Because I embraced it." Coal replied.

"What?"

"My old personality is able to show through a little bit because I embraced it." Coal informed. "It isn't trying to keep me contained anymore. It knows I won't be trying to get rid of it."

"Oh." Was all Cynder could say.

"When did you embrace it?" Spyro asked.

"Just after I left Exedra's and Galaxia's home." Coal replied.

"But then why did you attack us?" Spyro asked.

"I want you on my side right?" Coal asked.

Spyro nodded.

"I attacked you to make you desperate to help me. I attacked you so that you would break those crystals."

* * *

 **End chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did** **writing it! Again, sorry for the dash marks. I'll be sure to fix that as soon as I get the computer back. Thank you for reading!**

 **Shadow out.**


	4. Chapter 4 Nightmares

**Alright! Here's Chapter 4! I hope you enjoy! OH! Special thanks to my sister for reading through this before it was posted!**

* * *

"Wow Coal." Spyro said. "We would've been proud of how cunning you are if you were on the right side."

"You mean if you were on the right side." Coal corrected.

"Coal!" Cynder yelled. "How could you say that?!"

"This is who I am now Mom," Coal defended. "and soon you will be joining me."

Cynder new the truth behind that last sentence, so she didn't reply.

"Mom?"

"Yes Coal?"

"Have you guys ever been through anything like this before?" Coal asked with curiosity evident in is voice.

"In fact, we have." Cynder replied as she took the first bite of food.

Spyro and Cynder relayed their past, all the while talking like it was the same, happy, boy that lived with them for ten years.

After they had finished, Coal asked his parents a question that neither of them expected.

"Did you enjoy the time during your corruption?" He asked as if he had been planning this the whole time.

"I-I" Cynder's face fell into a nervous smile. "Honestly, I did. It was nice to do stuff without the Guardians breathing down your neck all of the time."

"Then why don't you join me?" Coal asked.

"Well umm… I don't know." Cynder said.

Spyro could tell what Cynder was thinking, and he knew he had to break her from those thoughts.

"We don't join you because it isn't right." Spyro said, stopping Cynder from making a choice that she couldn't easily come back from.

"Oh uhh… Yeah." Cynder said when she realized what she was thinking.

Coal sighed. "Welp. I'm gonna go to sleep." He said. "Maybe you'll join me tomorrow morning."

Spyro and Cynder decided to do the same. "Goodnight!" Spyro said, then turned over and went to sleep.

* * *

"What? Where am I?" Spyro asked himself when he found himself outside of the cave, in a place he didn't recognize.

The sun was setting, giving the area around him a wonderful glow. He was in the middle of a large field, with long grass all around blowing carelessly in the wind.

Coal approached him. _"What's the plan Dad?"_

Spyro felt his mouth move without him wanting it to. _"We take Warfang. Tonight."_

" _Perfect."_ Coal replied in a menacing tone.

They took flight, heading undoubtedly to Warfang. When they arrived, they found Cynder there. _"Ignitus is asleep."_ She said. _"We are free to start the attack."_

" _Perfect."_ Spyro said in the same menacing tone that Coal had earlier. "Let's begin."

The three dragons shot into the air, and began circling over the great dragon city. Nobody saw them under the cover of the darkness. Slowly but surely, they made their descent. The dragons and moles down below, unaware of the oncoming danger.

Spyro gestured to an empty alley, and the two other dragons understood the unspoken message, nodded and followed Spyro into the darkness of the alleyway. Spyro found himself thinking wicked thoughts, all of which he hated.

A dragon passed by the alleyway, and glanced into it, seeing the three invaders. Before it could scream however, it had a long piece of ice through its heart. Spyro laughed quietly, but evilly, and was soon joined by his companions.

* * *

Spyro woke with a scream. Somehow, Cynder slept through the scream, but Coal was on his feet instantly.

"What's wrong Dad?!" Coal asked his hyperventilating Father. "Calm down!"

Spyro took a deep breath. "Ok." Spyro said after a few seconds. "I'm alright."

"Ok," Coal began. "tell me what happened."

"Ok, well uhh… You, your Mom and I were attacking Warfang, and I killed someone." Spyro relayed.

"That's not so bad." Coal said with a laugh. "You could have stopped someone from killing someone... That would've been bad."

"I would prefer that." Spyro announced.

"That's right." Coal said disappointedly. "You are still resisting."

"Yeah." Spyro replied.

Coal was about to say something, but was interrupted by Cynder, who woke with a scream similar to Spyro's.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled.

Cynder spoke between gasps. "Oh… Spyro… it was… awful…" She said. "I killed… an innocent… dragon."

"It's alright Cynder." Spyro said. "None of it really happened."

"But it wiiill" Coal sang in a sing-song manner.

Spyro shot him a glare, and Coal stopped his fun.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that Cynder." Spyro voiced sadly. "Nobody should have too."

"But why wouldn't you like that?" Coal asked seriously.

Spyro and Cynder couldn't believe what they had heard.

"And you do like that?!" Cynder asked in astonishment.

"'Course." Coal replied.

"Wow." Was all Spyro could say.

Neither Spyro nor Cynder could fall back asleep after their nightmares, Coal however, went right back to sleep.

The two purple dragons just sat in each other's embrace, hoping that they could forget the awful vision that was their dreams.

* * *

It had been three hours before Coal awoke again, and when he did, he instantly left to hunt.

"Why won't he let us hunt?" Cynder asked her mate.

"He doesn't trust us just yet." Spyro replied. "He doesn't want us to go telling on him."

"But why would we?" Cynder questioned. "I mean we are just going to join him aren't we?"

"That's the kind of talk that'll make us join him." Spyro said annoyed. "You are just giving up?"

"Well there isn't anything we can do about it right?" Cynder's voiced angrily as she got to her feet.

"We can fight it Cynder!" Spyro yelled following Cynder to his feet. "Why can't you see that?!"

"Well maybe I don't want to fight it Spyro!" Cynder screamed. "Ever thought of that?!"

"Cynder! This isn't you!" Spyro yelled even louder. "You'd never say that!"

"Maybe it is me! Maybe it's time I embraced it!" Cynder threatened.

"No! Cynder, Please don't!" Spyro instantly left his previous statements behind. "I'm sorry!"

"I don't want any more suffering Spyro!" Cynder admitted. "I can't deal with it anymore, and there is only one way I see around it."

Black flames appeared, and slowly crawled across her body, leaving nothing but black behind. Once the flame had finished its journey from her tail to her snout, the blackness of her body began to lighten to their normal purple.

Cynder's face twisted into an evil smile. "It is done."

"No! Cynder!" Spyro began crying. "I'm sorry Cynder… I wasn't able to save you."

"I'm going to find Coal." Cynder announced, then left.

"AARRGH!" Spyro screamed in pure rage with tears still dripping down his cheeks, and then sighed. "Ignitus I've failed you."

He created a small boulder using his earth element, smashed it in frustration, and then repeated it. A loud 'crack' sounding each time he smashed one of his creations.

* * *

Soon Coal returned with a deer in his maw. "Hey where's mom?" He asked after dropping his catch.

"She went *CRACK* looking for you." Spyro replied.

"WHAT?!" Coal yelled.

"Oh don't worry. *CRACK* She didn't leave to tell." Spyro said, with annoyance evident in his voice. "In fact *CRACK* she is right there."

Coal turned around to see his Mother in the entrance to the cave, ran up to her, and pulled her into a hug.

"I thought you left!" Coal admitted after the hug was broken.

"I'm not leaving anytime soon." Cynder replied with a smile.

"So you are with me now?" Coal asked.

Cynder nodded, and Coal pulled her into another hug.

"That's awesome Mom!" Coal exclaimed.

"Tha-*CRACK*" Cynder started to say, but was interrupted by Spyro breaking another boulder.

"Hmm. Having fun?" Cynder questioned her mate.

"Oh yeah. *CRACK*" Spyro said sarcastically. "I'm having _lots_ of fun."

" _Good."_ Cynder replied evilly.

Cynder and Coal began a conversation about what they were going to do once Spyro joined them. Spyro didn't pay any attention though. He kept his attention on the boulders he was smashing.

This process continued for the rest of the day, and into the night. Spyro only stopped once his fatigue forced him to do so. He laid down next the large pile of broken rock. Too tired to move, he reluctantly retired to his dreams.

Spyro unfortunately had the same dream as the night before, except he didn't wake up as soon as before.

After they had finished their fit of laughter, they continued on into the streets, killing unsuspecting civilians. Through this entirety, Ignitus remained asleep. After killing more than fifty dragons and moles, Spyro decided it was time to announce his presence. He walked into the middle of the city, grabbed a mole, let it scream and then put his tail blade through its heart.

All the bystanders instantly started running around, screaming in a fit of terror. The three invaders were killing any innocents that passed by too close.

Soon enough, Ignitus came out, with flame by his side.

Spyro felt his mouth move again. _"Ah! So the old man arrives!"_ It said. _"Well you promised me, so come on! Make good on that promise."_

Flame crouched into a battle stance and began growling. Ignitus reluctantly did the same.

"Spyro!" Ignitus yelled. "Enough of this!"

Spyro's mouth curled into a malicious smile. _"I don't believe your pupil and my son have met."_ He said nodding to Coal.

Coal nodded back and stepped forward with an evil grin on his face. _"Well come one then."_ He said impatiently.

Flame tried to step forward, but was blocked by Ignitus' wing. "No, Flame."

"But Ignitus, It's just a kid." Flame responded.

"It may be a kid, but look at his parents." Ignitus replied. "Beating him won't be as easy as you think."

Flame looked up to the two, fully grown purple dragons. Both had a menacingly evil smile twisting their faces.

"Who cares who his parents are?" Flame asked arrogantly. "He isn't purple."

"If you want to fight him that bad, then I can't stop you." Ignitus announced. "But _don't_ underestimate him."

Flame growled in response and stepped forward, crouching into his battle stance when he was only three meters away from the black dragon.

Coal snickered, and then dropped into his battle stance.

Both waited for a sign to start, staring into each other's eyes to intimidate the other.

A nearby tree dropped a pine cone, and as soon as said pinecone hit the ground, the two dragons raced the small distance towards each other.

Instantly, Flame was knocked backwards, stunning him. He looked up to see Coal staring down on him with the same evil smile. Coal allowed Flame to stand up, which he did slowly, keeping a sharp eye on his opponent the whole time.

After standing up, Flame showered his opponent with flames, scorching the ground where the black dragon used to be.

Proud of himself, he began to gloat. "Not as strong as you thought he was, huh Ignitus?" He was about to mock the purple dragons, but stopped when he saw their faces. There in front of him were not faces of anger or grief, but there were wicked smiles upon their faces.

Flame completely lost focus. He felt a small gust of wind, and heard an evil voice.

" _Behind you!"_ Coal mocked.

Flame turned to see that Coal had jumped towards him, with his tail blade high in the air, ready to come down on his neck.

Flame intercepted Coal just in time, blocking with his tail blade. "Gonna have to be faster than that if you want to beat me." Flame gloated.

" _If only I was trying."_ Coal said with an evil chuckle.

Coal swiped at flame with his claws, leaving deep gashes in the red dragon's cheek.

Flame growled "You're going to pay for that!" He yelled angrily, then slashed his tail blade at his opposition. At first Flame thought he had won, but then realized that Coal disappeared right before his tail blade connected.

Coal appeared just to the right of his previous position. _"Too slow!"_

Flame swung his tail blade at Coal once more, only to hit air again.

" _Not fast enough."_

Flame slashed again, and Coal dodged again.

" _You're boring me to death."_ Coal mocked.

Flame screamed in anger, and raised the intensity of his attacks.

Coal dodged each and every one of Flame's reckless attacks, mocking Flame about how slow he was each time.

Ignitus was amazed at how quick Coal was. From his point of view, it looked like Coal was teleporting back and forth.

"Flame!" Ignitus called. "Calm down! You are just wearing yourself out!"

Flame payed no attention to Ignitus, and kept swinging his tail blade around madly.

After four or five more times, Coal appeared behind flame, and thrust his tail blade into his back.

* * *

Spyro woke with a yelp. Breathing heavily, he looked around, and realized it was only a dream.

"Morning Dad!" Coal called. "Another dream?"

"You mean nightmare." Spyro replied.

"C'mon." Coal started playing again. "It couldn't be that bad."

Spyro stood up, and started smashing rocks again.

"Back to the ol' grind, huh?" Coal asked continuing his fun.

Spyro didn't even respond, and continued his work.

"Wash, rinse, repeat. *CRACK*" Coal began to chant. "Wash, rinse, repeat. *CRACK*"

* * *

 **Chapter 4 ends! I hope that some of that wasn't too long winded, and I also hope that other parts aren't rushed. Either way I appreciate your time! And a special thanks to MightyMidget (My sister) for proofreading this!**


	5. Chapter 5 Defenses

**Here it is! Chapter 5! ENJOY!**

* * *

A _week later._

Spyro's nightmares had never let up. And to make matters worse, evil and dark images began popping into his head when he was awake too.

"Ugh. When will it end?" Spyro asked.

"It'll end when you join us." Coal answered.

"That won't be happening anytime soon." Spyro replied flatly.

"You are only forcing this on yourself then." Coal said before turning and walking out of the cave.

Spyro began smashing rocks again, but before he could break his fifth, a heavy pain lanced through his entire body. Gasping to try and relieve some of the pain, he collapsed.

Cynder and Coal came into the cave, and saw Spyro on the ground writhing in pain, but when Cynder tried to go over and help him, she was stopped by Coal's tiny wing.

"Why can't I go over there?" Cynder asked over Spyro's grunts of pain.

"He won't embrace his true self if we help him." Coal replied. "He's strong, so he needs to go through this."

Cyder reluctantly nodded and took a step back, watching helplessly as her mate squirmed in pain. Tears began welling up I her eyes, and her knees became wobbly.

"I need to step out for a minute." Cynder announced in a shaky voice.

"Don't be too long." Coal called after her. "He will fall soon."

Cynder hadn't even heard Coal's last few words, as she was already gone.

"Ugh. Why can't he just give in already?" Cynder asked herself. "It would be so much easier on him."

Cynder flew for a little bit, and was about to turn to face the sun and return to the cave, until she saw a red dragon flying in her general direction.

Instantly changing her mind about flying back, she flew straight towards the dragon.

Once the young, male dragon saw her approaching, he began to simply hover.

"Hello there!" It called once Cynder was in earshot.

"Hello young one!" Cynder called back.

The red dragon was obviously annoyed at being called young.

"Wait. You're purple." The dragon said once he could see her better. "You're Cynder!"

Cynder nodded, and then let the young dragon continue.

"Wow! Is it true that you and Spyro defeated Malefor?" The dragon asked, obviously having bought the story that Ignitus came up with years ago.

Again, Cynder nodded.

"Wow!" The dragon exclaimed.

"Excuse me," Cynder said before the dragon could continue. "but I don't think I got your name."

"Oh! Where are my manners?" The dragon said. "My name's Flame."

"Nice to meet you Flame." Cynder voiced. "I'm terribly sorry, but I need to get home."

"Ok! See you later!" Flame called as Cynder flew away.

Flame turned to fly back to Warfang but then realized that Cynder had flown the opposite direction. "Wait, doesn't Cynder live by Warfang?" He asked himself. He thought about it for a couple moments, then shrugged it off and flew away.

* * *

"C'mon Dad." Coal tempted. "All this pain will stop if you just _join me_."

"No…" Spyro said with a grunt. "I'm not… Ahh… joining you…"

"AAAHHHH!" Spyro screamed in utter agony.

"Then you are just allowing your mind to torture you." Coal said. "It will manipulate you until the only thing you know is evil."

"I'd rather have that happen instead of giving in to it willingly." Spyro replied flatly, briefly brushing off the pain.

Coal turned around and walked away, whipping Spyro with the blunt end of his tail blade in the process.

"COA-ARGGHH!" Spyro began to yell but was cut off when his pain returned.

All of a sudden, Spyro's pain disappeared. "Wh-What?"

" _You should have listened to your son."_ A warped and evil voice announced.

"No. I'd never join you." Spyro yelled back.

" _You don't understand."_ The evil voice replied. _"I am you."_

"No… I-it's not true." Spyro stuttered.

" _Oh but it is."_ Spyro's dark half replied.

* * *

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Spyro screamed.

"Woah, Dad." Coal said in surprise. "What was this dream about?"

"What? Dream?" Spyro couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Yeah Dad." Coal replied. "You were out cold."

"Wha-AACK!" Spyro yelled as his pain exploded.

"Well. I'm gonna leave you to yourself." Coal announced as he turned to leave. "Have fun!"

As soon as Coal was gone, Spyro's pain disappeared.

" _Get up."_ Spyro's evil half commanded.

Spyro found himself on his feet instantly. "What?"

" _Good."_ His dark voice said evilly. _"Now go kill Ignitus."_

Spyro again, found himself listening to the voice without any kind of fight.

"WHY AM I DOING THIS?!" Spyro screamed to himself as he leapt into the air.

" _You are doing it because I am telling you to."_ Spyro's evil side announced inside of Spyro's head.

"Then STOP IT!" Spyro yelled.

" _No."_ Dark Spyro replied.

"Ugh.. What if I join you?" Spyro asked.

Spyro stopped flying towards Warfang.

" _I'm listening."_ Dark Spyro said.

"I will join you _if_ you don't kill Ignitus." Spyro announced.

" _I am not the one that'll stop you from killing Ignitus."_ Spyro's evil voice informed. _"Only you will be able to stop yourself."_

"Deal then." Spyro announced.

" _Then accept me."_ Dark Spyro commanded.

"Not yet." Spyro interrupted. "I have one last thing to do."

" _No!"_ Dark Spyro yelled. _"Accept me now!"_

"You can't force me to." Spyro announced flatly. "But don't worry. It'll happen."

" _Fine then."_

Spyro again continued his flight to Warfang, only this time it was on his own accord.

* * *

"Dad?" Coal yelled into the cave. "Are you alright? I haven't heard your screams of pain in a while."

When Coal didn't get an answer he walked into the cave to make sure his Dad was alright, but when he got inside, he found the floor bare.

"Oh no!"

Coal ran out of the cave to find Cynder.

"MOM!" Coal screamed in exasperation.

"What's wrong Coal?" Cynder asked as Coal found her.

"It's Dad!" Coal announced. "He's gone!"

"WHAT?!"

"He's not in the cave Mom!"

"Then where is he?!"

"How should I know?!"

"This is SOO bad!"

"Mom! CALM DOWN! We need to find him!"

"OK! Ok. I'm calm."

"I bet he went to Warfang."

"You are probably right Coal. Let's go!"

Immediately they jumped into the air and flew towards Warfang.

* * *

"Ignitus?" Spyro called when he reached the citadel in Warfang, which acted as the temple until the new one could be completed.

"Spyro?" Ignitus asked as he came from the library.

"No wait in the library." Spyro announced after looking around. "Too many stray listeners."

"Wait." Ignitus said, stopping Spyro in his tracks. "How can I tell if it's still you?"

"If I wasn't myself, I wouldn't tell you that if it wasn't me I would still be purple would I?" Spyro asked.

"I guess you are right." Ignitus admitted. "But I am still keeping my eye on you."

"Fine by me." Spyro announced as he walked into the empty library.

Ignitus followed Spyro into the library, and closed the door.

"So what is it you want to talk about?" Ignitus asked.

"The very near future." Spyro replied quite flatly, causing Ignitus to raise his guard even higher than it already was.

"Go on." Ignitus beckoned.

"You need to prepare Warfang." Spyro announced. "Prepare it for attack."

"What?" Ignitus asked. "Why would I need to do that?"

"Because I am going to attack it." Spyro answered.

Ignitus hated what he had just heard, but knew that he wouldn't get a better chance to fulfill his promise, so he reluctantly lifted his giant tail blade, and thrusted it towards the purple dragon, who was flipping through a book, absent-mindedly reading.

Ignitus closed his eyes. He felt his tail blade connect with something, and slowly opened his eyes.

Instead of finding his tail blade inside Spyro's back, he found that it had been blocked by Spyro's tail blade.

Without looking up from his book, Spyro spoke. "Sorry Ignitus." He said rather menacingly. "That won't be happening today."

Ignitus was afraid that Spyro was going to turn and attack him, and started to back up in fear. "Uhh-"

"So!" Spyro interrupted as his voice returned to normal. "As I was saying, set up as many defenses as possible Ignitus. It is your only chance."

Ignitus couldn't tell if his son was being friendly or not. "Spyro." Ignitus began. "I need you to tell me right now, what are you planning to do?"

Spyro turned away from his book, and spoke. "I honestly can't tell you that Ignitus."

"Why not Spyro?" Ignitus asked.

"Because _I_ don't even know what I'm going to do." Spyro answered.

"Oh."

Spyro moved in a half circle, cornering Ignitus. Slowly Spyro forced Ignitus to the wall, and began to move in once Ignitus was unable to back up any more.

Ignitus, who was fearful for his life, could only cower in the corner of the library, hoping that his greatest friend wouldn't be the one to kill him. But those fears were instantly sliced in half when Spyro wrapped his front legs around Ignitus and pushed his face into Ignitus' chest.

After getting over the initial shock, Ignitus wrapped his front legs around Spyro.

Spyro began to talk without moving his head from its position on Ignitus' chest. "I love you Dad."

"I… Love you too Spyro." Ignitus replied.

"I'm sorry that I can't fight it." Spyro said sadly as he looked up to his Father-figure.

"Spyro." Ignitus began. "It isn't your fault… It is mine."

"No Ignitus. It is mine." Spyro stated. "If I was only stronger, I could stop it."

"I'm sorry Spyro. I wish I could help you."

"Me too." Spyro said as he broke the hug. "I really am sorry. I wish I could stay, but I really do need to go."

"Goodbye… Son." Ignitus said as Spyro left the library.

"Goodbye Dad." Spyro said sadly, and then walked out with his head low, and his tail dragging.

* * *

As Warfang came into view, Coal and Cynder saw a large purple dragon flying away from the city.

"Dad!" Coal called.

"Spyro! Why did you leave?" Cynder asked.

Spyro looked towards the ground in sadness. "I had to say goodbye to Ignitus before…"

"Before what?" Coal asked.

"This." Spyro said.

Black flames slowly crawled from Spyro's tail, to the tip of his muzzle, leaving nothing but blackness behind. Exactly like Cynder, except when the flames finished their journey, his scales didn't turn purple.

" _The Dark General returns."_ Spyro announced with a menacing smile as all of his previous sadness disappeared.

" _Finally!"_ Coal exclaimed in a dark tone.

" _The Dark General."_ Cynder said with a evil smirk. _"I haven't seen you in a long time."_

" _It has been a while."_ Spyro said. _"But it is good to see The Terror of the Skies again."_

They began the flight back to the cave, and as soon as they arrived they went to sleep.

* * *

As soon as Spyro left, Ignitus began preparations. He gathered moles and dragons to build defenses.

Flame was in the crowd that Ignitus had gathered, and managed to grab his attention as he finished his speech.

"Yes Flame?" Ignitus asked after the crowd had dispersed to start constructions.

"Why are there being so many defenses put up?" Flame questioned.

"There is a coming danger." Ignitus announced.

"How do you know?" Flame inquired further.

"A very reliable source Flame." Ignitus answered.

"Ignitus!" A hearty voice called. "What's with all the defenses?"

"Exedra! Galaxia!" Ignitus said after he turned to see who the voice came from. "When did you get back?"

"A couple months ago." Galaxia replied.

"Good for you!" Ignitus announced. "I wish your return was at a better time. Unfortunately, we about to get attacked."

"What?! Who's going to attack?" Galaxia asked.

"Not here." Ignitus said after noticing all the eyes that were on him.

Ignitus led them into the temple in Warfang, and into his quarters. He was about to begin his explanation, but noticed that Flame was with them.

"I am sorry Flame," Ignitus apologized. "But you can't hear this."

"Why not?!" Flame snapped back. "I am going to be the next fire guardian right?!"

"Flame, you cannot hear this yet." Ignitus said sternly. "I will tell you after the defenses are set up."

"But-"

"Go help set the defenses up Flame." Ignitus commanded.

Flame was about to argue, but was cut off by a glare from Ignitus.

"FINE." Flame yelled in defeat, and then stalked away.

Ignitus sighed. "Now that that is over." He said. "Unfortunately, the one who is going to attack us was once our most powerful ally."

Both Exedra and Galaxia had a good idea who Ignitus was talking about, but asked anyway. "Who is that?" Galaxia asked.

"Your son."

* * *

 **Chapter five is over! I hope you liked it! Also, I am now officially a beta reader! I will beta anything Spyro (Eg. The Legend of Spyro, Skylanders) or How to Train Your Dragon. As long as it isn't rated M, I will beta it! Just ask. I would also like to apologize for taking so long to upload. I hit a wall. I knew what I wanted to write, but I didn't feel like writing it. I honestly am not through this wave of writers block, but I should be soon... I hope. Anywho. Thanks for reading!**

 **Shadow out.**


	6. Chapter 6 Deceit

**Hi guys! Sorry for taking so long to upload, I had a college showcase tournament for soccer over the weekend, and I wanted to stay focused. Then I played The first Legend of Spyro game completely through so.. Yeah. Anyways, here is chapter 6! ENJOY!**

* * *

Ignitus hadn't slept in days. He had spent the past seventy-two hours working on erecting a new guard tower, which was equipped with arrows for an archer and even a torch for lighting some of the arrows on fire.

Ignitus hadn't seen Exedra or Galaxia since a day earlier. But he guessed that he knew what they were up to, and knew they could handle it themselves so he didn't dwell on it.

"Flame!" Ignitus called as he caught a glimpse of his apprentice.

"Yes Ignitus?" Flame answered as he turned towards the red guardian, and began the short walk in his direction.

"I need you to go find the lookout." Ignitus said. "He should be on the west wall, waiting for the cheetah's arrival."

"Gotcha." Flame answered as he turned west and leapt into the sky.

Ignitus watched his pupil fly away, and gave a long, tired sigh.

He then heard a long, shrill whistle. A call he had been waiting for since about midday yesterday.

Instantly he jumped to the air, spread his wings and sped off towards the west battlements.

After a short minute, he landed clumsily on the wall, and addressed the lookout.

"You called?" Ignitus asked the earth dragon that was holding the lookout position on the west wall.

"I did, Master Ignitus." The lookout replied in a deep voice. "Look!" He said excitedly as he pointed with his wing towards the horizon.

Ignitus turned his head to where the lookout was pointing. Just barely visible to his old eyes was a mass of tall creatures, all of which stood on two feet.

"The cheetahs have finally arrived." Ignitus said as he turned back to the lookout. "Point them to the temple when they get here."

Ignitus was just about to take off, when he realized something. "Hey where's Flame?"

"He said that he was going to his house to get some rest." The lookout replied.

"Ok." Ignitus said and then took off and flew to the temple to get some rest.

Exedra and Galaxia had been searching since dawn the day before, and dusk was approaching now.

"Exedra." Galaxia said, getting the attention of her mate. "We should stop to rest soon."

"I agree Galaxia," Exedra replied from behind his mask. "but we need to find Spyro."

"I know. But we won't be of much help if we can't even stand." Galaxia continued. "Look. There's a cave."

"Fine." Exedra conceded, as he was really tired himself. "But only until morning."

"Sounds good to me!" Galaxia exclaimed as she dove towards the entrance to the cave.

Exedra began a slow descent after her, surprised by her eagerness to sleep. When he had finally made it into the cave, he found Galaxia already deep in her slumber.

Sighing, Exedra curled up next to his mate, pulled his bony mask off, and slowly drifted to sleep.

When they awoke, they found a fresh fire, and a large roasted sheep laid out for them.

"Did you do this Exedra?" Galaxia asked.

"No." He replied with sleep still evident in his voice. "Did you?"

"No." Galaxia answered. "Maybe there was somebody in the cave with us last night."

"Probably." Exedra said, grunting as he stood up. "Might as well eat what they left us."

"Are you sure they left it for us?" Galaxia asked. "What if they were saving it?"

"It wouldn't be laying out right in front of us if they wanted to save it for themselves." Exedra replied.

Reluctantly, Galaxia agreed with his logic, and they began eating their meal.

After finishing their meal, they left and began searching for their son.

Unbeknownst to them, the dragon they were looking for was the dragon who left the food for them.

* * *

"Why were your parent's here Spyro?" Cynder asked her mate as they left the entrance of their cave.

"They were probably looking for me." Spyro replied. "I bet Ignitus told them everything."

"Ok." Cynder said, agreeing with his hypothesis. "Hey where's Coal?"

"I don't really know." Spyro answered honestly. "He is probably off looking for somebody to mess with."

"Yeah." Cynder said while deep in thought. "What are you planning to do?" She asked, then noticed the questioning look on Spyro's face. "You know. About your parents?"

"Probably just let them find me." Spyro replied.

"They will try to remove the darkness from you." Cynder said informatively.

"They will." Spyro remarked. "But what they don't know is that it is not possible."

"Why not?" Cynder asked.

"You should know Cynder." Spyro answered. "We accepted the darkness willingly. So it isn't controlling us. We are bound to it. Just as it is bound to us."

Cynder nodded in response.

"Hey Mom! Dad!" Coal called as he landed in front of them.

"Where were you?" Cynder asked the black dragon in front of her.

"I was messing with some cheetahs." He replied, chuckling as he thought back just a few minutes.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _Coal was crouched behind a bush, awaiting a small group of cheetahs to pass by. As they did, he rustled the bush that was his hiding place, sank into the shadows and reappeared in the darkness of another bush that was closer to the group._

 _Only the backmost cheetah noticed the shaking bush. "Hey Hunter?" It called to the front._

" _Yes?" Hunter replied._

" _I don't think we are alone.." The nervous cheetah said._

" _Keep your guard up then." Hunter called out to the other cheetahs._

 _All eleven of his companions grunted an affirmative, and then continued on their way._

 _Coal shook his bush again, and this time every cheetah saw it._

" _What was that?!" One of the cheetahs yelled._

" _Someone go check it out." Another said._

 _After a couple seconds, one of the cheetahs stepped forward._

 _Reluctantly, the dark orange colored feline spread the bushes apart, and slowly stepped in._

 _As soon as the bushes closed behind him, the unsuspecting cheetah was tripped._

 _Outside of the bushes, struggling could be heard. Many of the cheetahs were too scared to move, but Hunter was not one of them. He leapt into the bushes, and grabbed the cheetah, who was now lying on the ground covered in cuts and bruises. Dragging him out of the undergrowth, Hunter began to ask the injured cheetah what he saw. But all he got was a disappointed shake of the head. The cheetah didn't see his attacker._

" _I'm gonna check it out." Hunter said bravely, and then jumped back into the bushes, prepared for any attack._

 _He waited for any sign of motion. Any sound of movement. But none came._

" _Who's there?!" Hunter called out to seemingly no one, but got a reply from behind him._

" _Your worst nightmare." Coal said in dangerous, although quiet voice._

 _Hunter spun on his heels, automatically drawing his sword as he turned to where the voice came from, but he saw nothing._

" _Who are you?!" Hunter asked again._

" _I just told you." Coal replied._

 _Hunter turned and slashed at Coal, but didn't connect as Coal was using his shadow abilities._

" _Why are you my worst nightmare?" Hunter asked, although he was afraid of what was going to happen if he did._

" _Because of this." Coal replied, once again behind Hunter._

 _Hunter turned and swiped, but again he missed._

 _Coal left the shadows behind Hunter._

 _Deciding to give the cheetah a good scare, Coal jumped and kicked Hunter with all four paws._

 _Hunter was sent flying back out of the bushes. Scrambling to his feet, he called for the rest of his companions to make a break for it, and swiftly followed._

 _As soon as he was sure they were gone, Coal bust out laughing._

 _END FLASHBACK_

"I see." Cynder said, imagining what Coal just might have done to some unsuspecting cheetahs, and laughing at what she thought up.

"Hey Dad?" Coal called.

"Yeah?" Spyro asked in response.

"What are you gonna do about your parents?" He asked.

"You'll find out right now." Spyro answered as he raised a claw and pointed it just behind Coal. "Here they come."

Coal nodded in response, and then sank into the shadows, appearing behind a bush as Cynder did the same.

Spyro remained still, waiting for Exedra and Galaxia to spot him.

Exedra was slowly walking around the forest with his mate, looking for any sign of his son. Suddenly though, they found a black dragon, sitting on his haunches as if he was waiting for them.

"Hello there!" Spyro called happily.

At first Galaxia and Exedra didn't recognize the dark dragon in front of them, but eventually Galaxia figured it out.

"Spyro?" She asked, recieving a nod from the black dragon. "What happened to you?"

Galaxia took a step forward, only to be blocked by Exedra's wing.

"Wait Galaxia." He said, earning a questioning look from his mate. "I can feel an immense evil emanating off of his body."

"Oh don't worry. I won't hurt you." Spyro said honestly.

This caused his parents to relax a little, as they heard the honesty in his voice.

Cautiously approaching him, Galaxia began to question Spyro again. "What happened to you, Spyro?" She asked.

"Nothing really." Spyro replied casually as he turned and began walking deeper into the forest.

"Then why are you all black?" Exedra asked, beginning to follow Spyro.

"I just thought a change would be nice for a while." Spyro answered while looking over his shoulder, back at his parents.

"Then why can I sense darkness coming from your body?" Exedra questioned further.

"No reason." Spyro lied.

Exedra saw right through it, so he sank into the shadows and appeared in front of his son.

Spyro stopped. Realizing his lie had been exposed, he began to tell the real truth. "I guess you've seen right through me." Earning a nod from his father. "Well, if you really want to know the truth, then I'll tell you."

Exedra moved back to his mate, awaiting his son's explanation.

"Cynder and I found what was wrong with Coal." Spyro said as he pulled one of the purple crystals out. "It was one of these crystals you see.. They cause dark thoughts to appear in your head and twist your judgement. Eventually, they force you to accept the darkness."

After Spyro finished his sentence, both Galaxia and Exedra felt a large force come down on their heads, knocking them both unconscious.

The sight of Cynder and Coal greeted him as Spyro watched his parents fall to the ground.

" _Good work."_ Spyro said darkly.

"Thanks Dad!" Coal replied as he grabbed Galaxia and began dragging her to the cave.

Cynder did the same with Exedra as Spyro followed behind, watching to make sure nobody was spying on them.

"Lay them down in the back of the cave." Spyro said as they arrived. "I have an idea for when they wake up."

* * *

Galaxia and Exedra didn't wake up until the next morning.

"Where are we?" Galaxia asked as she looked around the cave.

"You are in my home." Spyro's voice said, although neither Exedra nor Galaxia could see him.

Remembering the day before, Exedra had a question. "What happened?" He asked.

Spyro left the shadows in order to answer, and with him came Cynder and Coal. "These two didn't realize that it was you." He said as he pushed some gems towards them.

Without thinking Galaxia broke the gems, her head still hurt after all. Exedra hesitated, and it was a good thing he did. When Galaxia broke the gems, dark and twisted thoughts appeared. Instantly, she pushed them to the back of her mind, effectively blocking them out.

Exedra felt the darkness in Galaxia's mind, and knew exactly what happened. "Galaxia!" He yelled. "Are you alright?!"

"Yes, yes. I'm fine." Galaxia replied quickly. "For now, at least."

"ARGGHH SPYRO!" Exedra yelled as he slashed his scythe tailblade him, but only caught smoke as Spyro disappeared.

After his anger simmered, and he got his thoughts straight, he decided to give Galaxia more red gems. Sifting through his pile, he found the purple gem, removed it, and slid the rest of the gems to his mate.

"Thanks." Galaxia said half-heartedly. "This is gonna be fun."

* * *

 **And that's chapter six! Again, I'd like to apologize for taking so long, but I wanted to make sure that I played well in front of the college coaches. Anyway, thanks for reading!**

 **Shadow out.**


	7. Chapter 7 Planning

**I have an good explanation for why it took me this long to upload, but I am going to wait until the Authors Note at the end. ENJOY!**

* * *

After lounging around for an hour or two, Ignitus heard a sharp knock on his door and swiftly moved to open it.

"Ah, Chief Prowlus!" Ignitus he exclaimed as he opened the door. "How are you?"

"Fine, fine, but this is no time for chatting." The chief replied gruffly, pushing the large fire drake to the side to allow himself entry. "Why did you call me hear with such urgency?"

Ignitus sighed. "Dangerous times are approaching." He announced grimly. "Approaching fast."

"Has another one of your kind decided to cause an uprising again?" Prowlus asked crossly.

Again, Ignitus sighed. "Details later." He said before briskly walking back outside as to prevent the chief from demanding answers.

With an annoyed grumble, Prowlus stepped impetuously through the door, shutting it with the soft clunk of wood-on-wood contact and hastily pursued the red dragon.

Ignitus kept walking, brushing off the feline's angry calls that demanded him to turn around and answer him at once, eventually making it to a group of cheetahs and spotted Hunter in the bunch. "Hey, Hunter!" He called. "I need to speek with you."

Hunter nodded, and strode towards the fire guardian. "Where are Spyro and Cynder?" He asked as he strode towards Ignitus. "I haven't seen them since just after Coal was born."

"In private." Ignitus said commandingly as he turned and resumed his brisk walk, this time with two cheetahs in tow.

He quickly paced to the temple and into the planning room, swiftly barring the door after his small entourage made it in behind him.

"Now can I get a couple of answers?" Chief Prowlus asked impatiently.

Ignitus gave a saddened sigh, then began. "As you know, a new danger has appeared." Both cheetahs nodded. "That danger has arisen because of me."

"WHAT?!" Prowlus yelled in surprise." "HOW-"

"I'm getting to that." Ignitus interrupted. "Spyro and Cynder's son was somehow corrupted, and at the time, we didn't know how it could have happened."

"And?" The cheetah chief demanded.

"And Spyro and Cynder went to investigate." The Guardian explained. "When they came back, they had in their possession a small cluster of purple gems. I had them each break a piece to see what might happen, and the result was not very good."

"What happened, Ignitus?" Hunter asked calmly.

"I don't even know how to explain it." The fire drake responded. "I guess that they lost control of their minds, evil replacing all other presences in their conscience."

"So they are this mysterious threat?" Chief Prowlus asked flatly.

"Unfortunately, yes." Was Ignitus' answer.

"What do we do then?" Hunter asked curiously.

"We?!" The feline chief shouted. "This isn't our problem! It's theirs!"

"But if they take Warfang, then the Valley of Avalar is next!" Hunter yelled, matching Prowlus' volume.

"This is their problem!" The chief screamed in response before turning his attention to Ignitus. "You won't be getting any help from us. I simply cannot risk the lives of half the village just because you have a problem." He said before spinning around and stalking away.

Hunter sighed. "I am terribly sorry, Ignitus. He is not thinking."

"It is not your fault, Hunter." The Guardian replied. "I assume you are all headed back to the Valley then?"

"I will stay and help in whatever way I can." Hunter announced. "And I am sure I can convince a couple of the others to stay as well."

"Thank you, Hunter. That would be much appreciated."

* * *

"Shall I try to remove it Galaxia?" Exedra asked.

Galaxia, who was currently spread tiredly across the floor of the cave, responded weakly. "If it can get rid of these damned nightmares, then go for it."

Exedra nodded in confirmation, and then closed his eyes, focusing entirely on his mates mind, looking for the darkness. Eventually, he felt a small presence, immediately digging for it in order to remove all of it. Soon after beginning his work, the darkness he found began spreading. Almost like the shadow cast from a fire, it bathed his subconscious in evil. Immediately, Exedra jolted back in pain. He let out a pained gasp as he struggled to keep his breathing under control. Beside him, he heard a strained groan from his mate, indicating that she was having similar troubles.

Spyro walked in at that moment, and his eyes widened briefly at the sight before him. "Nice try." He said. "But, unfortunately that won't work."

"And why not?!" Exedra asked through grit teeth.

"Well," Spyro began. "Whether she knew it or not, Mom welcomed the darkness into her body."

"And just how do you suppose I did that?" Galaxia asked with clear anger in her voice.

"By breaking that gem." Spyro replied and, after pausing just long enough to see the look of anger on Exedra's face and send a smirk back, turned and paced back out of the cave.

"Let's leave." Exedra said after he was sure Spyro was gone.

"No arguments from me." Galaxia announced as she struggled to her feet, only to crumple back to the ground.

Exedra hurried to help his mate, supporting her with a shoulder and draping his wing over her back for comfort.

Slowly, the pair took a step forward, then another, and another, slowly making their way to the mouth of the cave. Crossing the length of the cave took more than a minute due to their slow pace, and as they stepped through into the light, they suddenly disappeared. Seeming to have noticed this, Galaxia looked up to her mate, only to find that she couldn't see him. Looking down on herself, she found that she couldn't see even her own limbs.

She looked up to where she knew Exedra's head was and smiled, guessing that he'd be able to see.

Exedra could in fact see it, and smiled back, although he knew that his mate wouldn't know he did. Slowly they made their way away from the cave where they had been for the last month. It was painstakingly slow progress due to Galaxia's exhaustion, and in the agonizing silence Galaxia couldn't help her rising apprehension. Exedra seemed to notice this though, and hurried their pace.

As they were walking, Galaxia found herself gazing at the beautiful forest all around them, slowly taking in each and every detail as they walked by. From the small, brown mushrooms to the ginormous, lush, green trees, all were scrutinized by Galaxia's astonished gaze.

"Wow!" She gasped in amazement. But as soon as the word left her mouth, Galaxia felt a paw clap over her mouth, causing her to jump in surprise. As she looked back forward, her breath caught.

A couple meters away, with his back to them, was Coal. He was surveying his surroundings, looking for anything out of the ordinary. And as he turned fully around, he looked right at them.

Galaxia's heart stopped, forgetting that she was being cloaked by Exedra. Only once Coal's gaze left them and begin sweeping back through the area did she remember that she was invisible, and as Coal began walking away she realized just how long she had been holding her breath. Trying her best to remain quiet, she inhaled slowly, filling her lungs with the much needed oxygen.

Only once he was sure that Coal was gone did Exedra resume walking again, only this time he pushed his feet as fast as his mate could go.

* * *

In a small clearing, scanning the forest around him to stop any intruders from entering the vicinity, was a young black dragon.

"Wow!" Coal heard from behind him, he knew better than to whip his gaze in that direction however, and he kept his eyes forward. Continuing the same search pattern as he slowly turned around, eventually bringing his eyes to the spot where he heard the tired voice. He didn't see anything, but he knew better than to think nothing was there. He swept his gaze slowly over the area again, but as he did so he focused on his earth element, sensing vibrations through the ground. With his finely tuned senses he was able to feel two heartbeats pounding through the floor. With a smirk that was barely even visible, he passed his eyes back over the place where Galaxia and Exedra were. Only this time he called upon his shadow element, and right where his earth element told him they were, Coal found Exedra and his exhausted mate. Without giving away the fact that he had discovered them, he turned back around and began walking away, wearing a triumphant smirk the whole time.

After walking in a straight line for about a minute he came upon another small clearing which held an adult black dragon and an adult purple dragoness sitting across from each other with a small fire in between.

"Mom! Dad!" Coal called as he walked into the clearing, continuing once both sets of eyes were on him. "It happened! They left!"

Spyro and Cynder needed no more explanation, and as their eyes widened in surprise, their faces quickly morphed into ones with evil smirks.

"Took them long enough." Spyro snickered. "They could've gone long ago."

"You know what I don't understand?" Cynder asked. Both black dragons looked at her with quizzical expressions. "Why didn't we think of leaving?"

"Oh believe me." Spyro said with a snort. "I did."

"Then why didn't you suggest it?" Cynder inquired.

"Because we didn't have any place to go to." Spyro answered. "Our home was destroyed, Warfang didn't trust us, and if they learned about our corruption then they would've kicked us out."

"I guess you are right." Cynder said with a look of realization. "Ignitus would've been the only one to defend us…"

"Hey!" Coal interrupted, a sad stroke caught in his voice. "Why are we thinking about that? I mean, you guys are glad that you are here right?"

"Of course we are, Coal." Cynder specified. "I was just wondering."

"Good, I went through a lot of trouble to get you here." Coal sighed, glad that his parents were happy to be there with him.

"I'm sorry." Spyro started. "We were stupid to not come in the first place."

"Ah, that's alright." Coal said with a dismissive wave of a paw. "You just needed to see the truth."

"Thanks, Coal." Cynder said happily.

"For what?"

"For not giving up on us."

"Oh, no problem! But you should know that I didn't have much of a choice anyway."

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked.

"You were the only ones I could get to break those gems willingly." Coal answered.

"Oh."

"Think we should get some sleep?" Cynder asked.

Spyro yawned, and then answered. "Probably. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Cynder said, yawning as well.

Laying his head down, Coal began to talk again. "I really am glad that you guys are here. I was really lonely without you."

"We are glad we are here too." Cynder responded. Then she followed her son's example and laid her head down to go to sleep. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Both males responded in unison.

Spyro watched as his mate and his son slowly drifted off to sleep, only once they were asleep did he finally lay his head down. "I hope you rest well, My Darling." He said quietly. "Our plans have to work perfectly if we want to pull through." With a small smile, he finished his thoughts. Hoping that Cynder could hear him. "I love you."

* * *

 **Ok so first things first. Thanks to everybody who stuck with me through my time of inactivity. I appreciate it greatly. I could say that computer problems were the reason why I took so long, but that isn't entirely true.. It started when school school picked back up. I was really busy the first couple of days. Then soccer restarted, and I was really busy with that. Afterward, my computer kinda quit working on me, and I lost all the chapter progress. After that, I just got really lazy. I made a cover picture for this, and I played probably 80 hours of Zelda Breath of the Wild throughout this whole process. Anywho, thanks for reading and please review if you think it is worth the time!**

 **Shadow out.**


End file.
